Around 200 Entergy Arkansas Inc. customers were still without power Thursday afternoon, 24 hours after severe thunderstorms caused nearly 8,500 outages in Garland County.
At one point Wednesday, more than 43,000 Entergy customers were without power statewide due to severe weather. That number had been reduced to about 9,000 customers late Thursday afternoon, according to Entergy Arkansas' Facebook page.
Greg Asbell, Entergy's regional manager of customer service, said the outages were the result of broken poles, damaged cross-arms and transformers, and wire on the ground caused by wind, lightning and downed trees.
"The hardest-hit areas were Highway 7 north, near the junction of Albert Pike and Mountain Pine roads, Wilson Lake Road, Old Bear Road, and Cedar Glades Road," he said Thursday afternoon.
He said 115 additional linemen reported to the Hot Springs Regional Service Center Thursday morning to assist with restoration efforts.
"We estimate most customers in Garland County who can receive power will be restored by midnight (Thursday). However, due to the significant amount of individuals cases that remain, some customers may not be restored until Friday," he said.
Late Wednesday, Asbell said Entergy crews had restored power to about 3,200 customers by 9 p.m. and around 5,000 by 10 p.m.
As the storms approached the county Wednesday afternoon, portions of Garland, Clark and Hot Spring counties were placed under a severe thunderstorm warning until 6 p.m. after the National Weather Service radar indicated a line of severe thunderstorms capable of producing damaging winds in excess of 60 mph.
The storms were located along a line extending from 2 miles east of Hot Springs to 5 miles northwest of Okolona, moving southeast at 35 mph.
Other damage included a tree down over Highway 227, reported by Arkansas State Police, according to the Weather Service. There were also trees down in the 1300 block of Highway 7 north, where power lines were down and the roadway was reportedly blocked, and the 500 block of Laser Street in Hot Springs.
Local on 07/25/2014